Method of making axle housings



sept. '2o-,1921.

c..s. SMITH. 'nunon o2 MAKING Axim: Hou/sims sued Ang. s. "1922! rBY " l ATTORNEYS.

Patented Sept. 20, 1927..

PATENT OFFICE'.

CHARLES S. SMITH, F MILWAUKEE WISCONSIN, ASSIGNOR TO A. O. SMITH CORPORA- TION, 0F MILWAUKEE, WISCONSIN, A CORPORATION 0F NEW YORK.

METHOD 0F MAKING AXLE HOUSINGS.

Application led August 3, 1922. Serial No. 579,479.

A tains particularly to the `provision of means wher y the structure is integrally strengthened in certain areas which are subjected to unusual strains. For convenience of description, the axle housing and gear casing will be referred to hereinafter as the hous In practicing my improved method of manufacturing, I produce contoured blanks b the dies of a punching press, as usual. he blank is then subjected to oppositely exerted edgewise pressures adjacent the con'- tour lines which detinethe openings in the sides of the housing. The exertion of such pressuresacts to compress the-metal of the blank contiguous to the said contour lines, with the result that the gauge of the metal v is increased in the areas of such pressures.

The Icontoured blanks thus treated are pressed into shape as half-shell members, Vtwo of which are assembled edge to edge and welded along their meeting lines. In this manner, the housing is provided with integrally formed thickened portions in the region of the openings in its flat sides presenting suicient body for the required purposes, andwhich ma be drilled without encountering the troub es attendant upon the production of housings. of the older form, in which additional metal in the form of separate rings is arranged in 'conjunction with the openings.

Novel features residing in the invention will be specifically described later on in this specification, and pointed out lin the appended claims. j

In the drawing herewith:

Fig. 1 is a diagrammaticad lplan view showing the edgewise compression operation to which the contoured blank is subjected in accordance with my invention.

Fig. 2 is a sectional view on the line 2-2, o Fig. 1, showing the action of the clamping dies for preventing displacement of the central area of the blank, and showing also the action of the dies which compress the edges of the blank so as to increase the gauge of the stock in the sections where additional body is desiredfor the purposes of my invention.

Fig.'3 is a transverse section of the blank after Ythe same has been subjected to edgewise compression to produce the desired additional body by dies arranged as in Fig. 2.

Fig. 4 is a sectional view difering from Fig. 22 in the arrangement of the, compression dies employed.

Fig..` 5 is a transverse section of the blank after compression by the dies arranged as in Fig. 21.

Fig. 6 is a view in elevation of an improved housing, broken off at one end, produced in accordance with my invention.

Fig. 7 is a vertical sectional view on the line 7-7, Fig. 6, showing the integral structure of my improved housing.

The Hat blank l20 may be heated in its central area, if desirable, and clamped between the ldies 25 and 26 of a suitable press, the clamping faces of such dies being of less width than the blank, and cut out as ats-27 to constitute matrices into which the mar gins of the metal blank are adapted to be expanded transversely of the plane of the blank by the pressure exerted against. the edges thereof, so as to fill such matrices and thicken the metal at those points. The clamping faces of the dies act to preserve the plane of that portion of the blank which is lclamped between them. The bed 29 of the press may be channeled as at 30, correspondingto the outlines of the blank, as shown in ig. 1, so as to receive the blank and resist its tendency to elongate under the lateral pressure applied to the edges of its central section. Such lateral 'pressure is effected by means of oppositely working dies 31 and 32, arranged i'n the same plane, and ladapted to bear upon theedges of the blank at its central section, to cause the softened `metal to How transversely of the plane of the blank into and fill the matrices, and `thus form the edges of the central fsection of the blank 20 with side-margins 33 of increased gauge, as in Fig. 3, the thickened margins extending along both sides of the blank for the desired j distance to constitute a segmental embossment contributing to the for- .mation of a circular rib in the completed housing. Fig. 4 shows an arrangement of the dies designed to produce a like blank somewhat modied in cross section and as illustrated in llig. 5,-the thickened margins appearing as ribs 33 upon one y'side only of the blank 20, as will be understood from the drawing. This result is produced by forming the lower clamping die as a plane surface, but forming the matrix in the upper clamping die as before described.

Ilhe blanks'produced in .accordance with my new method will be subjected to the action of a drawing press 'to :torni the semi-tue bular half-shell members, arched transversely at the center, as usual. Complemental members constituting a pair are joined by electrically welding them together along the vline of their meeting edges, to produce the integral housingstructure 23, with reduced tubular ends and an enlarged central vertical 'will .be understood that certain grades oi steel may be worked without being subjected to prior heat treatment.

lt is expedient to form the halt-shell meinbers as counterparts, and to weld them to gether at their meeting edges in the horizontal plane or neutral axis oit the axle, inasmuch as the strain inthat line is the least to which the housing is subjected. .A single set of dies will therefore produce both of the coinplenientalparts of the housing, which parts when welded together as described are united into a single, inte ral and permanent structure. By integral as used in connection with the comprehensive references to the housing in this speciication `and the claims which are appended, l mean to define a housing as asingle element in which the integrity of the metal forming the same is unbroken, and .in which there is a homogeneous and inseparable formation, such as is reduced by complete arc welding, in which the strength at the point of union is not less than of the materials in which it is formed. rEhe integral housing may therefore be produced by electrically welding together a plurality of sha ed parts, or a single shaped part having' ut one line of weld, or

recense by the expansion of a seamless or other tube to the varying diameters desired. The other relation in'which the term is specilically used carries its' own explanation.

Having thus described my invention, what l claim and desire to secure by Letters Patent el the United States, is:

l. The process of making axle housings and gear casings for automobiles which process comprising the operations oi cutting a contoured metal blank, thickening the side margins of the central portion thereof by exerting edgewise pressure thereon, pressing the blank into a semi-tubular formation arched at its center, and welding a pair of the latter along their meeting edges, to produce as an inte ral structure an elongated tubular housing raving reduced ends and an enlarged vertical central sect-ion with gear assembling openings in the sides thereof, and

with an integrally thickened gauge in the metal of the housing in proximity to the said central openings.

2. The process of inalring axle housings and gear casings for automobiles, which process comprises the steps oi cutting a contoured blank trom a metal sheet, subjecting the edges ofthe central portion thereof to pressures exerted transversely of the blank to reduce its width, pressing the'blank into a hollow 'formation arched at its center, assembling a set oifsuch parts with their edges abutting, and electrically welding them together along their meeting lines, to produce as an integral structure an elongated tubular housing with a widened central section having gear assembling openings in its sides and reduced ends extending oppositely from the central section, and with the metal o the housing integrally thickened in the regions of the said openings.

3. Il`he process of making axle housings and gear casings, which comprises the operations of heating a blank, confining the blank against longitudinal expansion, applying pressure to the edges of the heated section to cause the metal in the margins of the heated section to flow transversely of the plane ot the blank, drawing the blank into a semi-'tw bular formation arched in its central section,

and;welding a pair of drawn parts at their meeting edges; to constitute an integral tubular housing with a transverse central opening l integrally strengthened at its borders.

In wit-ness whereof, I have si ed my name at Milwaukee, Wisconsin, t is 20th day of July, 1922.

C. S. SMITH. 

